Signs (2002)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Mstery
Story
When crop circles appear in Rev Graham Hess’s (Mel Gibson) corn field, his brother and two kids get spooked. They try to figure out why this is happening there and all over the world and quickly come to the realization that Aliens are waiting near crop circles to land. Rev. Graham Hess and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) have to try and protect the two kids Morgan and Bo from the aliens as Rev. Hess continues to battle the tragic loss of his wife who died in a car accident caused by Ray Reddy (M. Night Shyamalan).
Everything Else
The directing of signs follows suit with other M. Night Shyamalan films in that he is great at creating just the right amount of suspense. This movie does not use the crazy twist tactic everyone was surely looking for after seeing The Sixth Sense, but rather Signs tries to build suspense in each situation the family finds themselves caught in. The soundtrack and camera work do wonders in achieving the goal of making the film suspenseful and there was even a couple “jump out of your seat” moments in the film.
The acting was good by Joaquin Phoenix who was just on his way up the Hollywood ladder at this point. Mel Gibson also did his normal good job of acting and made a believable Reverend. Although it seemed odd he was married and had kids, but appeared to be a Catholic priest. Something did not match up with his faith, but the point of the loss and return his of faith still came across quite well. Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin both did well in their roles as the children. Abigail Breslin must have launched her career from this film, but I have not noticed Rory in as many movies since. You have to be rooting for any Culkin though right. Ray Reddy played by M. Night Shyamalan was the worst character and M. Night Shyamalan does not know how to act. Every line he delivers seems so forced it is awful. Unfortunately though, he has every right to be in his own movie. M. Night Shyamalan should stick with the smaller roles in his movies like the doctor that has one line or things like that.
The Real Deal
I liked Signs a lot when it came out and even upon multiple viewings. It has more replay value than The Sixth Sense since there is not really any big twist that once you know it there is not much else left. Signs may not have been as good as The Sixth Sense was the first time, but M. Night Shyamalan continued to create a well made movie which certainly seemed fresh and original like all of his movies have. There is only minor language and violence in Signs and the only true disturbing things are the “jump out of your seat” moments. This could be viewed by a large audience which I am sure is what Shyamalan was going for (in fact it is a Sharon Movie). I would recommend this movie to anyone with an interest in a movie about aliens attacking earth and fans of Shyamalan. The only thing you have to remember is that this is not The Sixth Sense and there is no big twist; if you do not look for it, it makes the movie a whole lot better.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 807,448
Sharon Movie? Yes
5/30/2008
Sharon Movie: Signs (2002)
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8 comments:
Hi Dave -
That was a pretty good review, but I am going to have to disagree with you. The one and only thing that I did not like and can't get past is the story....a group of aliens that have an acid like reaction to water try to take over a planet that is composed of over 75% water??!?
I have to admit that my expectations of MNS after The Sixth Sense were a bit high, and even though it was a good movie, I just did not like it.
But that is just one view, and it might be a little narrow minded...
I like Signs a lot, but do agree with HomeBrewMe - the water angle was just a horrible one to take; make it ice cream, make it orange juice, make it anything but water and no one would have had a problem with it.
Nonetheless, it's a suspenseful and expertly acted thriller, and parts of it really creep me out.
I loved the sixth sense, I did not like Signs at all. The story was awful. That's my opinion.
Hi Dave -
There is something that I neglected to say in my last post. I did appreciate the struggle that Gibson's character was experiencing. He lost his faith in God because of his wife's death but he still tried to be a good father and not turn his children away from God.
He also tried to keep it together as best he could, meanwhile living in the same town with his wife's accidental and regretful killer. Mel played the part very well in my opinion.
-->HomeBrewMe
Homebrewme -
I agree with you that the water thing is a little cheesy, but I just let it slide because this is a Sci-Fi movie. Everything is made up and really doesn't make sense and the idea that they are killed by water may seem stupid, but then again if we were to go to another planet I find it completely within reason that there could be a substance we are unfamiliar with and did not know would hurt us upon touching it. Yes, they should have figured that out before attacking, but then again they really didn't seem that smart. They did not even use weapons.
Again, I think this movie suffers from what I call The Sixth Sense effect.
Fletch -
Thanks for liking Signs! I feel suddenly victorious. Yes, water was a bad angle to take, but Shyamalan has still got the originality card.
Mike -
Sorry to hear you did not like this one at all. I thought the story was simple and solid, but it was really about the acting and suspense that the film could create.
I will give you that the acting was good. I like both lead actors. It was a pretty funny movie so I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't say it was a good movie. Maybe if I wasn't laughing at the story the whole time I would have found this one suspenseful, but I found it much more funny.
Hangh!!
It looks like there are plenty of varying opinions about Signs. I guess that is what the comments are for.
Thanks for the discussion everyone!
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